Mexico's Supreme Court Rejects Military Trials

Published September 27, 2012

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Mexico's National Supreme Court has ruled Article 57 of the Mexican Military Code of Justice, which the military had interpreted to give itself jurisdiction over cases of military human rights violations, to be unconstitutional. The Court affirmed that such cases should be tried in federal civilian courts. This ruling was informed by four recent judgments against Mexico at the regional Inter-American Court of Human Rights, two of which were litigated by MacArthur grantees Mexican Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights and Tlachinollan Human Rights Center. There are more than 20 pending cases on the Court's docket involving military jurisdiction, and the Court has indicated it will continue to move in this direction.

Several Mexican human rights organizations present recommendations to the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances and request scrutiny of the situation in Mexico, where at least 23,000 individuals are registered as “enforced disappearances”. Read More

A recipient of the 2015 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos
is protecting the rights of vulnerable people amidst justice reform in Mexico. Watch